The Great British Baking Show (2010–…): Season 9, Episode 4 - Dessert Week - full transcript
The bakers must create a cracking meringue Signature, a wobbly Technical, and a complex chocolate Showstopper that promises to reveal all.
NOEL: Last time... Sign of
the cross. ..the bakers were
overstretched... Ooh!
..with bread.
Paul's prowling around like a bear.
Whilst Dan came close again...
It's perfect.
..it was Rahul... Oh, look at that.
You're a little genius.
..who was crowned Star Baker
for the second time.
I'm going to kill him.
But for Antony, it was toast...
Not your best, Antony.
It's not my best.
..as he became the third baker
to say goodbye.
Come on, ladies. Come on.
Come on, let's bring it in.
SANDI: Now... Chop, chop.
..the bakers take on
a trio of desserts...
Going to put some cherries on top.
..with a Signature
that's all about the swirl...
Roll, baby, roll.
No! It's cracking.
Ah-ha-ha!
..tackle a '70s classic Technical...
Oh, what a mess.
It's not looking good.
..and attempt a mesmerising,
melting chocolate masterpiece...
This is as nerve-racking
as giving birth.
..that's never before been
witnessed on Bake Off.
Ah, yes! Amazing.
Oh, no, it's cracked.
You've got to laugh about
these things, haven't you, eh?
And cry a little bit.
I'm all right. I'm fine.
Noel, what are you doing?
It's Dessert Week.
I've made a custard pie. Are you
kidding me? Do you remember
last year
when Paul accidentally got
a custard pie in the face?
We cannot risk having that
happen again. It was a disaster.
Give me that. I'm going to throw
it... Sandi. Noel. Oh!
Welcome to Dessert Week.
What should we do? Run!
I've definitely been looking forward
to this week,
but that's probably my... signing
my death warrant right there.
I think I've just about managed
to scrape through
every single week,
so let's go for nailing
a good Signature today.
So far, I haven't had a big
baking disaster... so, hopefully,
it's going to continue?
Week four. It's getting
quite into the competition now.
Dan's looking strong.
Rahul definitely.
He just seems to be, like,
a conjuring magician, or something.
It's a mixture of everything,
really. Scary. Exciting. Nervous.
But, in the morning, what better
way to start than a glass of milk?
So, I just literally drink
a glass of milk in the morning.
Hello, bakers.
Welcome back to the tent.
Now, as you all know, unfortunately
Terry is not with us today
because he is poorly but with the
agreement of absolutely everybody,
he is going to be allowed
to come back next week.
Right, on with the challenge.
Today the judges would love you
to make a meringue roulade.
Now, your roulade
needs to be family sized.
It must be made from
melt-in-the-mouth meringue.
The choice of filling,
entirely up to you,
but the filling must be
enclosed in the roulade,
which - when cut - must demonstrate
a perfect swirl.
You have one hour and 45 minutes.
On your marks. Get set. Bake!
It's too quiet.
It's making my nerves go weird.
Everyone's separating eggs.
It's the most bit that you need to
concentrate on.
I've managed to get
the egg whites in the bowl
without getting any egg yolk in.
That was the first hurdle passed.
Oh, yeah, I messed it up. Oh.
This is annoying.
What we're looking for
in a great roulade -
crack through the exterior,
soft on the inside,
and beautiful spiral
into the middle.
One of the things the bakers
really need to think about
is the balance of flavours.
You need a bit of acidity,
either a curd, or nice sharp fruits,
because meringue is pure sugar.
But the beauty of this challenge
is there's nowhere to hide.
Make a mistake and it shows up.
And there's four whites in there.
Meringue's the most important thing.
Just got to get that in the oven
as quickly as possible.
You want just a nice, stiff,
glossy meringue.
Like, no undissolved sugar in it.
I think it's hot enough now. Hello.
Hello. Hello, Manon.
So, how are you making
your meringue?
I heat the sugar in the oven.
Basically, just dissolves
much quicker in the egg whites.
With everything I'm doing,
I'm hopefully guaranteeing
a good meringue.
Manon's relying on her heated sugar
to perfect a meringue that
will wrap a mascarpone cream
with kirsch-soaked dark cherries
and amarene cherries.
Amarene, this is like,
Italian, sweet,
almondy cherries and it's
a flavour from my childhood.
Do you want to smell?
NOEL: Thought that was an urn.
Fantastic. They smell like
almond kernels, don't they?
And you've done this before?
Uh, never made
a meringue roulade before.
So...
Slowly. Slowly.
You don't want to dump it all in.
You don't want the egg whites
to lose their air.
My husband's favourite dessert
was treacle tart.
Basically, it's the filling that
you would have in a treacle tart,
but in a roulade.
In addition, Briony will add a layer
of chopped fresh and dried pears
and wrap it all up
in a pecan meringue.
How many pears you going
to be using?
Um, three.
OK. You carry on.
Love pears. I love pears.
They're underrated. Yeah.
Absolutely.
Who's their press officer?
They're getting nothing.
Yeah, that's the meringue
nearly done.
I'm just making sure
that it holds its own shape.
That, um, if I wanted to risk it
over the top of my head,
it wouldn't fall out off the bowl.
Yeah, that's fine.
Yeah, we're OK.
So, I think it's there.
Meringues are like clouds,
aren't they?
They make you think of dreams.
So we're doing like
a dream-themed one of, like,
moons and star biscuits on top.
Kim-Joy's bedtime roulade
will be filled with whipped cream,
fresh raspberries
and a passion fruit curd.
Love that you always have a theme.
What do you dream about?
Last night, I dreamt I woke up
at 11:00 and I missed...
I had a dream that I was with Sandi,
where she was playing a bull
and I had like a serviette
and we were doing bullfighting.
I'm just spreading my meringue.
I prefer the sheet
to using the tins.
I find it's a more rustic
edge to it.
Use the word rustic,
you can get away with anything.
Jon's exotic roulade will be filled
with passion fruit curd
and white chocolate cream
and topped with a decoration
that requires scientific precision.
Need some mango spheres on the top.
What do you mean mango spheres?
Mango spheres,
spherification of mango juice.
It's like an egg yolk. You burst 'em
and then the sauce
comes out of them.
Cute little extra to put
on the top of your roulade.
Good luck, then, Jon.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Some meringue. I think it's good.
When baking a roulade,
there's no room for error.
So that's going in the oven.
Just a minute too long,
the meringue will be too dry
and it'll crack when it's rolled.
I'm baking it
for 160 for 30 minutes.
Under baked and it'll be too soft
and the whole roulade will collapse.
I am slightly going to under bake
it, only because I have
past experiences of meringues
breaking open.
I want it to be slightly rollable.
I hope. I wish. I don't know.
Oh.
Right, next step,
next step, next step.
Making a roulade
now gets even harder.
I'm just doing so many things
at the same time.
I feel a little bit running around.
The bakers need to use every minute
their meringue is in the oven...
I've actually just poured in way
too much booze into that. Whoops.
..to perfect
their all-important fillings.
Did you learn knife skills?
No, I just literally watch
and learn from TV. Oh!
Or like YouTube and things
like that. Life hacks.
The texture of the filling
is critical
Passion fruit curd.
Just waiting for it to thicken
a little bit more.
Too thick, it will be impossible
to roll the meringue
and create the perfect swirl.
This is the treacle tart filling.
It's just dried breadcrumbs
in golden syrup.
Too runny... Oops!
..the filling will spill out,
resulting in a soggy roulade.
You don't want liquid because then
it just like... meh! It's not nice.
And they need to get the balance
of flavours just right.
Meringue is, like, really sweet.
It's all sugar.
And I think you need
something sharp.
I spent quite a lot of time
in the Florida Keys
and started thinking about
the flavours that I've enjoyed.
Mainly cocktails, if I'm
being completely honest with you.
Dan's fruity roulade will be
filled with a coconut cream,
topped with fresh mango,
strawberries and lime curd.
The lime is really
the star of this one.
I think I've got the balance of the
sweetness and the sharpness right.
Let's all cross our fingers.
Dan's not the only baker
to be studying the cocktail menu.
My roulade today is inspired by
the years that I lived in Liverpool.
Had a lot of good times
with my friends going out.
So I'm doing a pina colada.
That classic Liverpool cocktail.
Paul actually bought me
a pina colada the other day.
True story.
Ruby's girls' night out roulade will
have a boozy coconut cream filling,
layered with roasted pineapple,
all rolled up in a coconut meringue.
I'm making a pina colada
on the side, as well.
Can you make four?
Three for Prue and one for me.
All right, thank you.
Thank you very much.
I was introduced to rhubarb
when I first came here.
I hated it because
it's just so sharp.
But then I had rhubarb and custard.
So this is like one of
the first British flavours
that I've grown into liking.
Last week's Star Baker will roll
a classic rich cream custard
and rhubarb compote in a flaked
almond decorated meringue.
Did you not win Star Baker
twice in a row?
Oh, my God.
Do you have to say that?
I think you can get three in a row.
I'm not thinking that, you know.
If you get three in a row,
I'm going to get on your shoulders
and you carry me around the tent,
yeah?
Well, that's definitely not going
to happen after you said that.
When you get a box of chocolates
at Christmas and the family...
Coffee creams and hazelnut pralines
always go first in our house.
So I've tried to base
the flavours on that, really.
Karen's festive roulade will be
flavoured with a hazelnut praline,
coffee caramel,
and a rich, creamy whisky filling.
This is a very thick custard.
If it's sloppy, it'll just
ooze out. That's fine.
Curd's done.
It's just going to go
in the fridge.
Bakers, you are halfway through
your Signature Challenge.
You have 52 and a half minutes left.
That's oddly specific.
I'm looking for a crispy coating
with a nice creamy centre.
He's rising.
He's rising!
Two or three minutes till
the meringue comes out the oven.
I think I'm taking it out now.
Coming out in four minutes.
I just hope it's not going to
crack too much.
I'm going to go for two minutes more
and then he's coming out.
OK.
Are we ready?
The whole tray's coming out.
I can't get that out.
Pretty good.
Quite pleased with it.
Definitely a meringue.
Look how lovely that looks.
What can I say? It's called talent.
There's a few holes, and that,
but it's a roulade.
It'll roll up.
We're going to let this bad boy
cool a little bit.
How are you? I'm all right.
But no Star Baker yet?
Yeah, all right, don't rub it in.
But you must be...
Oh, no. So close.
I'm... Yeah, well, I'm not getting
excited about it any more.
Yeah, I know. That little guy.
I know.
He stands before you
and a Star Baker.
But I think when people think
of who's doing well,
they think of you... Do they?
And they think of me.
Right!
Bakers, you have...
..half an hour left.
Half an hour.
I'm just going to spread my custard.
Just got to be careful.
I don't want to overload it.
Just leaving a gap at the top cos
it, inevitably, like, squidges out.
I like to use a lot of cream.
I want them to taste rhubarb.
Not too thick, though.
I want each bite to have
some kirsch and some amarene.
Just got to do the dreaded roll.
Ah, that's the moment, isn't it?
Where it suddenly might go...
That's the big... Ugh! Yeah, urgh.
Urgh.
You want a nice, tight swirl.
Just like a little cut here,
just to get things rolling.
I use the technique called hope.
Right, let's go for it.
This is the crucial moment
to get it right.
It's so delicate.
Oh, my God, it's so important.
It's just not good.
I hope that's tight enough.
Roll, baby, roll.
It's cracking.
OK.
Boom.
Ooh. Nice little roll.
Come on, you little beaut.
And breathe.
Oh.
No.
It cracked.
Stop moving.
Bakers, you have ten minutes.
Just ten minutes.
Got a bit of leakage at the side
but neaten it up a little bit
with some nice pretty piping.
I'm terrible at piping.
Just cover up... Yes. ..the crack.
OK. Cool.
We're going to put
some cherries on top.
This is total improvisation.
I just need to decorate it.
Ah, really shaky.
Finally, baking at my level.
It's the rhubarb compote.
Why are you down here?
It's easier.
I've found that my whole life.
It's the runniest toffee sauce.
A few more for good luck.
Don't take this the wrong way...
Oh, for God's sake.
I saw a caterpillar in the zoo,
an exotic one.
OK.
Looked a bit like that.
Think it was poisonous.
Good luck. Thanks.
These are my mango spheres.
Calcium lactate and sodium alginate.
And, when they go in, they react
and they basically make, like,
a jelly sweet.
It's called reverse spherification.
Try saying that
when you've had a few.
One minute left.
60 seconds.
Uh-oh. Are you all right, Rahul?
I'm going to be terribly
running out of time.
You're shaking.
If you're going to do tacky,
go all in.
A bit of gold leaf.
I mean, that's my motto,
too much is almost enough.
I'll just go and quickly stick
my white chocolate on.
Have you still got stuff
in the fridge?
My hand is really shaking.
Voila. Quick.
Bakers, your time is up.
Thank you. That looks great.
Bakers, roll your roulades
to the end of your stations.
TIMER BEEPS
Oh, my, my thingy.
Sorry.
The bakers' roulades will now face
the judgment of Paul and Prue.
Hello, Ruby. Hello.
It's really cylindrical.
The shape of it's even
all the way down. Pray.
I'm praying!
You've sort of got a fold
rather than a swirl.
Perhaps it should be
just a bit tighter. OK.
It's beautiful and light.
The flavours are stunning.
It is a pina colada.
The coconut and the pineapple
is just there.
It's a fantastic roulade. Your
drink's good. Nice as well. Good.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
The theme is dreams,
but also passion.
So you go to sleep, wake up,
and passion follows?
LAUGHTER
Wow. I have to go now, um...
It's a real mixture of absolutely
exquisite piping
and then really
quite clumsy roulade.
It's very thick.
There is no spiral in there at all.
Yeah.
Flavours are lovely,
and I'm really impressed with
the passion fruit curd.
But I think the answer is
to have a thinner meringue...
Right. ..and a tighter swirl.
Looks very busy. It looks very neat.
Can't wait to see
what the spiral's like.
It's broken up a lot.
That's a shame.
That's delicious.
I think your two types of cherries
are a really good idea
and you got a beautiful balance -
tastes lovely, my mouth's
still watering. Ah, thank you.
It looks absolutely lovely.
Nice and even all the way down.
The kisses look amazing.
Thank you.
What you've got is a massive
meringue with a little fold.
There is no spiral there.
Meringue's quite chewy.
You haven't baked it long enough.
It needed a little bit longer.
However, your interior is delicious.
Smooth,
sharpness coming from the rhubarb.
It tastes lovely. Thank you.
Thank you.
I think your roulade
looks pretty sad.
It's flat. Yeah.
Let's have a look at this, shall we?
The actual swirl is there
but the inside is so soft
that it's all collapsed.
Yeah.
I think your meringue's
slightly underdone. Mmm.
Your outside is the only
crispy bit in there.
Everything else in there
is soft and marshmallowy.
I love the decoration.
It's so delicate
and it does look as neat as a pin.
You do have a spiral!
You have a really good one, too.
I think those flavours
are wonderful.
Really fresh, lots of different
fruit, the lime cuts right through
the sweetness of the meringue, and
you've got the balance perfectly.
Good.
Yes! Well, there you are.
The meringue is very, very good.
You need one hero and then
everything else works around it.
Lime's the one in that,
and I think it looks exquisite.
Well done, Dan. No way.
Thank you very much.
Well done! Thank you.
What you've got is cylindrical.
You've just lost that spiral.
OK, sure. Maybe less meringue. OK.
What's all that?
That's the golden syrup.
There's a little bit of seepage.
Mmm. Certainly tastes like
treacle tart.
You do get the pear.
It sits on your tongue
and then just melts away.
You've ticked every box
on your flavours,
but the meringue's slightly too
thick and you've lost the spiral.
It looks great.
I like the egg yolks on the top.
There is a bit of a spiral
going on there.
I'm longing to see
how the spherification works.
Wow. Perfect.
It's a nice little touch, that.
I think it's delicious.
The passion fruit, you've really got
that flavour coming through
and it's about the sharpness,
it's about celebrating the fruit,
you know.
Wow.
Thank you so much. Cheers.
Cheers, Manon.
I couldn't believe it - a handshake!
And I was so, so pleased cos that is
one of my most favourite desserts.
Couldn't really have gone
much better.
I'm kinda nailing the Signatures
right now.
Uh, not very happy.
I just need to take it on the chin
and move on.
Probably five minutes more
in the oven. Ohh.
Still bottom of the class.
I need to do OK
in this Technical Challenge.
If I perform like that again, then,
as my dad would say, it's curtains.
Dessert Week isn't going to get
any easier.
All right, bakers,
time for your Technical Challenge,
which today has been set for you
by Prue, and it is a '70s classic.
Are they making Starsky and Hutch?
No, no, they're still baking. Oh.
But normally this would come in
packet form, so Prue, any top tips?
Follow the recipe
really, really carefully.
Yeah, so that's helpful, right?
Off you two go.
OK, Prue would love you to make
that retro classic, the blancmange.
Oh, my God.
A raspberry blancmange,
and must have a wobble.
And if that isn't enough
to contend with,
it also needs to be served with 12
identical langues de chat biscuits.
You have two and a half hours.
On your marks. Get set. Bake.
I've not got the foggiest
about blancmange.
The bakers have
the same ingredients...
Jelly tins. ..and Prue's pared-down
recipe for the blancmange...
It's that retro, I've forgotten
about it, you know?
..and langues de chat,
a light crunchy biscuit
often served with creamy desserts.
It's my era, this.
I mean, I was a child in the '70s.
Now, when I used to have this
at school,
I thought it was
absolutely disgusting.
Yes, it's blancmange, but it's not
blancmange out of a packet.
This is more like a panna cotta.
All the colour and the flavour
comes from fresh raspberry puree.
You are gonna love it.
I'll take a little scoop.
Whoa.
Mmm! That raspberry flavour
is just bang, it hits you.
It's lovely. That's nice.
They're using gelatine to set this
so they really are under pressure
because they've only got
two and a half hours and they need
at least two hours of freezing
first and then chilling.
Now, you're going for
langues de chat,
the typical butter biscuits
from France.
They'll be great with the blancmange
because the biscuits will
provide the crunch.
Crispy and buttery.
Very sweet.
That's a great biscuit.
What can go wrong with these?
They have to be quick in the oven.
They burn in a flash because they've
got a lot of sugar in them.
I think it's a great challenge. If
that's what it was like in school,
I would have had that every day.
Quite a lot going on in this recipe,
and it's not entirely clear.
Blitz the raspberries
to a fine puree.
Pass through a sieve into a bowl.
Nice and smooth.
Getting all that flavour
out of the fruit. Oh, God.
Remember the bit at the bottom,
that's where you get a lot of
the puree.
I think I'll just leave this to drip
and move on to the next element.
Stir in the raspberry liqueur.
Ooh, she likes it boozy.
Then we've got to make a custard.
Simmer until the mixture thickens.
It should start thickening
any minute now.
It just has a moment when it's like,
"Yeah, I'm gonna thicken now."
I have to soak gelatine leaves.
We let them soak and it sort of
activates it. It's called blooming.
The gelatine is in there
so got high hopes of it setting.
Almond extract is next.
Stir in 300mls of the double cream.
Here goes the raspberry puree.
It's lovely. It's really bright.
Mmm, that smells so good.
Do you like blancmange?
I've never tried it.
The only thing I know about it,
Sandi,
is that it looks like a brain.
Oh, OK.
That's quite interesting.
This is all I've got, I'm afraid.
Is that the look you're going for?
A bit of cerebral cortex?
Then pour into the mould.
Easy as that.
The concern is,
how does it come out of the mould?
But I'll worry about that later.
Here we go. I'm scared.
Ah!
Right, I need to get this bad boy
in the freezer.
Where is my freezer?
Do your thing. One hour.
We've got to freeze the blancmange
for an hour
and then we've got to put it
in the fridge for another hour
before we turn it out.
Really cutting that fine for time.
Um... make the langues de chat.
I don't know what langues de chat
means. Manon.
Uh, it's a cat's tongue.
Do you know what a langues de chat
is? Yeah, it's a cat's tongue.
Is it really?
I've made langues de chat before.
I know what they're supposed to
look like. Tongues.
Why does everyone know
what these are?
It just says
make the langues de chat mixture.
No method.
Just a list of ingredients.
Icing sugar, plain flour, salt,
extract, egg whites. Boom.
Just got to pipe it and bake it now.
I'm quite happy with this batter.
It's what I remember the batter
looking like.
Don't look at me, Rubes.
No cheating.
You're such a little tell-tale.
No-one likes that.
Pipe 12 identical fingers.
I'm going five centimetres.
Ooh!
I just want them
to all be identical.
So does it say how long?
No. Just says bake.
All right, go.
Bake till Christmas? Bake till
tomorrow morning? Thanks, Prue.
I think they're probably
only gonna need a few minutes.
160. I'll give about ten minutes.
Haven't got a clue.
Oh, that's the cat's tongue.
Yeah, that's the cat's tongue.
That's all you eat in France,
isn't it? Cat's tongues and coffee.
Yeah.
So the next step,
melt the white chocolate.
Add enough green cocoa butter to
colour it mint green. Mmm.
Do you like the colour? No.
I don't think food should be
that colour. It shouldn't, really.
Bakers, you are halfway through
your Technical Challenge.
It's an important moment.
It's really hard to tell
how the blancmange is looking.
The bakers need to choose
the perfect moment
to move the blancmange from the
freezer to the fridge.
If they leave it too long
in the freezer,
then the binding agents in
the gelatine won't set properly.
I think gelatine doesn't respond
very well to being frozen, actually.
It tends to go sloppy.
My blancmange is still in the
freezer because I don't think
it's that set, and I'm just worried
that when I'm gonna turn it over,
it's gonna...
So I want it to be frozen.
So we're nearly there.
Just getting the biscuits
out of the oven.
They're huge.
Yep. That's about right.
Some of them are a bit pale but
they're gonna be decorated as well.
Hide a multitude of sins.
So what do the instructions say
again?
Dip the cooled langues de chat
into the chocolate lengthways
on the diagonal. It's not very
diagonal. It's more curved.
That's lengthways on
the diagonal, innit? Innit?!
That's not right.
It's like a banana.
Drizzle the white chocolate
in lines,
midways, from side to side,
across the langoustines de chat.
I think maybe it's all right.
How much time gone?
Bakers!
15 minutes till blancmange time.
Ah!
I'm gonna take the thing out now.
Seems all right.
Seems how I want it to be.
Remove the mould from the fridge and
dip it into a bowl of hot water.
Got some water, warm, there
for a quick slip and slide out.
Three, two, one...
Ah!
Ah! I don't really know how long.
Well, it's obviously softening
around the edges.
I'm so scared to turn it out.
I really don't want to be
the first one to do it.
This is awful to watch.
Yes!
This is stressful, isn't it?
It's coming.
OK, I'm going at three, two, one.
All right, is this gonna lift
or not?
Yikes.
Oh...
This isn't great.
It's out, but it's too soft.
Oh, no, he is melty as.
Come on, baby.
Aah!
OK, fridge.
Oh, what a mess.
Briony's got hers out fine.
Karen's not got hers out fine.
Bakers, you have five minutes left.
It's not looking good.
It's not gonna be good, this.
OK. Let's try to make this pretty.
Oh, God. It's just trying to escape
off the plate.
This is so rubbish.
Where did you slide down from?!
Looks like a blancmange.
Oh, well.
Bakers, that is it.
Your time is up.
Ohhh. Dear, dear, dear.
Please bring your blancmange
and your biscuits
and place them behind your photos
on the table.
Paul and Prue are expecting
a raspberry blancmange
full of flavour,
with a perfect wobble, as well as
12 langues de chat biscuits.
But they don't know whose is whose.
Shall we start with that one?
Bit of a wobble.
The definition has been lost
a little bit on this. Yeah.
But the colour's good.
Great consistency.
That blancmange is good.
Very good biscuit.
Not quite langues de chat shape,
should be a little bit thinner.
We've lost a lot of colour
on this one. And definition.
I think it could have been
a bit better set.
The biscuits...
They look as if they could have
spent a little longer in the oven.
In the oven.
They could have spent
a little longer in the oven. Mmm.
The colour of this
is really nice, actually.
Nice wobble.
Delicious. Delicious.
The tartness that comes from
the raspberry.
Onto the biscuits.
Bit under-baked. actually.
This has lost a bit of height
and a bit of colour.
It's not quite set, is it?
Lovely and crisp.
Moving onto this, um, pool.
But that's soup.
It's not set. Not set.
What a pity. Great flavour, though.
Biscuits are very good.
This one's actually got
a decent colour.
Just lost a bit of definition there.
Lovely.
Biscuits look pretty good as well.
That is a beautiful biscuit
from a baking point of view.
Moving on, let's have a quick look
inside, cos the colour's not bad.
It's a nice blancmange, that.
These biscuits do look good.
Beautifully piped.
They're great biscuits.
OK, last one.
Nice wobble on this one.
The colour is great. Very nice.
Beautiful blancmange.
It's sharp. It's smooth.
Biscuits are very skinny...
..but very good.
Very nice.
Paul and Prue must now decide whose
blancmange and biscuits are best.
In eighth place is...
this one. Manon, it's not set.
Right, in seventh place,
we have this one.
That's me. You didn't get the
raspberries through well enough
and the langues de chat
are undercooked.
Kim-Joy is in sixth,
Briony's in fifth
and Rahul is in fourth.
In third place, Jon.
The flavour
was absolutely delicious.
Spoilt by rather uneven
cat's tongues.
In second place is this one.
Pretty good.
You had a nice tartness,
and the biscuits were nice too.
Thank you.
Which means this one in number one.
Dan, it really was
the most delicious thing.
Well done.
Welcome to the club. Shut up!
It was one of my goals
to get first in Technical.
Couldn't really have gone
any better, could it?
Never making a blancmange again.
Puddle.
I'm really disappointed
with the result.
Do you want me to elaborate?
Not a great day. Plan for tonight?
Go and have a few glasses of wine,
early night... on it tomorrow.
I feel like the competition's
getting tougher.
A big part of me
just has this sense I'm going home.
There's just one challenge left
in Dessert Week.
Good luck, everybody.
Good luck!
One more chance to be crowned
Star Baker,
and to avoid
leaving the competition.
What's so interesting is
that the sort of top four,
which is, sort of,
Rahul, Ruby, Jon and Dan...
Dan the Man.
..those four have been really good,
and the other four
have all been in trouble.
Briony possibly. Yes, for sure.
Manon is down there as well.
Something very depressing
about Manon's blancmange.
I know. Could have done well.
All Kim-Joy's flavours
are very subtle.
But neither Paul
nor I are very subtle.
We just like big wallops of flavour!
I would hesitate to comment.
Karen's in big trouble.
That roulade was not good.
I think, coming into the last
challenge, there's a lot of people
who've got to raise their game.
Hello, bakers! For your
Showstopper Challenge today,
the lovely Paul and Prue would love
you to make a spectacular,
mesmerising, melting
chocolate ball dessert.
Sounds like a magic trick.
Well, in a way it is!
So, the dessert of your choosing
must be concealed and encased
within a chocolate sphere,
which, when topped with a hot sauce
melts away to reveal
the dessert within.
It can be any dessert,
any chocolate, but the textures
and the flavours
must compliment each other.
You've got three hours.
On your marks... Get set... ..bake!
Pressure's on because it's such
a complicated dessert.
Not feeling too thrilled
about all of this.
I just need to do a lot to save
myself, and I'm just worried.
And it's really hot.
Again.
With chocolate.
Oh, my word.
I'm working really quick because
I want it in the fridge
as soon as possible.
Thank you very much.
What we're asking for
is the most delicious,
original dessert
inside a chocolate globe.
When you pour the sauce on top,
you want the chocolate to melt away
to show the perfect dessert
underneath.
There lies the problem.
If it's too thick, it's not going
to melt all the way through.
If it's too thin, the chances are
it'll crack and fall apart anyway.
We'll be judging their dessert, yes,
but it's got to blend well with
the chocolate and the sauce.
So you've got to think
on two levels.
One, the dessert's
got to be fantastic.
But also, you've got
to think of the flavours
when that chocolate and sauce is
added to it, that still has to work.
There's a few bakers in the tent
in a bit of trouble.
This could be their last bake
in The Great British Bake Off.
So, Briony, your chocolate ball
dessert. Yes.
So, I am doing
a white chocolate ball.
The dessert encased is going to be
an amaretto and blood orange
sticky toffee pudding tart.
Oh, that sounds heaven!
You've done treacle tart,
and now sticky toffee?
Yeah, they're
my husband's favourites!
And mine actually.
Yeah? Oh, good!
Briony's tart will be enclosed
inside an imposing
marbled white chocolate sphere,
which will be melted with a blood
orange sticky toffee sauce.
Your choice of white chocolate
as the dome,
is that the right choice?
Yeah, I think it works well
because the dark chocolate,
didn't compliment the flavours,
it just completely...
Dominated? Yeah.
OK, thank you very much.
It's a pleasure. Thank you.
Look forward to it. Thank you!
I know that Paul makes
a sticky toffee pudding tart,
so...
Briony's not the only baker
putting her trust in a hidden tart.
I am doing basically a golden egg
sitting in a bird's nest.
Inside you'll have
sweet shortcrust pastry base,
and then you'll have
a pistachio crumb,
a white chocolate coconut ganache,
and a tart passion fruit curd,
with a mango meringue on top.
Very sweet. So, quite a complicated
little tart in there. Yes.
To reveal her tropical tart,
Ruby will make a hot coconut
and white chocolate sauce.
I go out for dinner with
my girlfriends quite a lot.
this is something we'd
definitely order.
You've seen a surprise,
melting chocolate ball
when you go out for a meal
with the girls?
Yes. Yes. Have you?! Yeah.
They're in restaurants now, Paul!
Yeah, you spend too long
in drive-throughs.
You need to get
with the times a bit!
Rather than a tart...
It's really good to get that in,
actually.
..some bakers are banking
on a more layered approach.
I'm making a joconde.
This is a toasted hazelnut version
because it pairs quite well
with the peach.
Basically, it's a peach and
hazelnut layered mousse cake.
With alternating peach
mousse layers,
Dan's joconde will sit in a
peach-shaped dark chocolate sphere,
inspired by his daughter Constance's
favourite bedtime story.
Why peach? I was struggling
for inspiration,
and then I saw James and the
Giant Peach on the book shelf
and I was like, "I'll do a peach"!
That's basically the reason.
You have a little imp
that speaks to you? Yeah, yeah!
Have you made this before?
I have.
Has it worked? Yeah...
Your voice is getting higher, Dan.
"Yeah!" I don't know.
Don't know why I'm doing this,
but I've seen people do it.
The layered dessert that will be
hidden inside Jon's chocolate ball
is also inspired by his kids.
Making a version of an opera cake
by calling it a ballet cake.
My three daughters did ballet and
my two youngest still do ballet,
this is my Lucy and Hannah
ballet cake.
Ringed with white chocolate
ballerinas,
Jon's sphere will hide
an 11-layered ballet cake,
which he'll reveal with a
hot raspberry and kirsch syrup.
I love the look of that. Goth juice.
That's what I do for work, I deliver
blood. Oh, you do, don't you?
I suck it out of peoples' veins
and you deliver it.
I'm getting hungry. Is it lunch yet?
These pistachios will make my crumb.
Most of the bakers are making a
single dessert designed for sharing.
The problem with peach is,
either they're beautifully ripe,
or they're a bit bland.
But, with 20 individual
desserts to perfect...
And that will be their legs...
..Kim-Joy's boldly going
where no baker has gone before.
I am doing a galaxy themed
chocolate ball,
filled with choux turtles.
Turtles? Yes, turtles. Because?
Because why not?
No, that's exactly right. Why not?
Yes. It's space turtles.
Space turtles, yeah. Where do you
come up with this stuff?
I don't know!
Featuring chocolate orange
craquelin shells
and orange liqueur cream filling,
the turtles will sit inside
a dark chocolate galaxy
until they're revealed
with a salted caramel sauce.
The choux, the caramel, the
chocolate together should be
amazing. It's a great blend.
I really hope so. Plus, turtles in
space, what's not to love, right?
And with little cocktail
umbrellas as well.
Oh! Of course. Of course! Obviously!
Obviously. Silly me.
Thank you very much indeed, Kim-Joy.
Oh, she's mad.
Oh, joconde!
TIMER BLEEPS
Preparing a delicious dessert
is the least of the bakers' worries.
I'll give that another minute.
The judges have demanded
that each one is hidden inside
a highly decorative
chocolate sphere.
So, this is going to be like
the galaxy.
I've got a glove
for my cocoa butter.
I usually use it to dye my hair.
Just seeing if there's any
thin bits through the light.
If the walls of the sphere
are too thin...
You've got to try and give it
a fairly firm edge.
..it will crack and collapse.
Bit of back and forth. Oh!
Too thick, the chocolate won't melt,
and the theatrical reveal of
the dessert inside will be ruined.
Rather it be a bit too thick,
than too thin.
Then the next thing
on my list is to pray.
It's a challenge Ruby,
Manon and Briony
have made even harder
for themselves.
With a lower melting point, white
chocolate is less stable than dark.
I'm trying to work very quickly
because this was just
at the right temperature.
To produce a sphere
that doesn't collapse...
Here comes
the technical shaking part.
..they'll need thicker walls.
It's very graceful.
The technique is shake it out.
Oh, we have the same technique!
Yeah!
Manon's white chocolate ball
will hide a French entremet dessert
featuring layers
of white chocolate mousse,
raspberry curd, and a crunchy
dark chocolate praline base.
Oh, I'm really hot.
I put quite a lot inside.
Whilst most of the bakers
are using moulds...
Get off, get off. Come on!
..Rahul and Karen...
Chocolate festival.
..are gambling
on a less rigid approach.
Too many cigarettes
when I was a young lass.
My children's party days
are long since gone.
Karen's pinning
her future in the tent
on a balloon-moulded
dark chocolate sphere,
concealing a raspberry liqueur
chocolate brownie,
layered with mascarpone
and raspberry syllabub.
It's really important that
this works for me today
because I'm on the edge
of the rankings.
I mean, I know in life
it's only a chocolate ball,
but today's it's important.
Rahul's taking his
Showstopper so seriously,
he needs more than one balloon.
Well, this one, the practice
was different because
when I was making the balloons
this was not very successful,
the balloons keep popping on my
face. It's a very tricky process.
He'll use his spheres
to craft an ornate kalash,
a Hindu symbol of abundance, said
to contain the elixir of life,
or, in this case, a seven-layered
coffee and chocolate opera cake.
I'm five minutes behind
the schedule already, so...
I've got to tell the bakers the time
but I don't know where Noel's gone.
Um, I'll just get on with it.
Bakers! You are exactly halfway
through your Showstopper Challenge.
My peach mousse needs quite a while
to set. I've got to get a hustle on!
This is raspberry curd.
And then I'm going to make
my chocolate collar.
This is the topping for my dome.
It's a pair of ballet shoes.
This is basically some traditional
Indian pattern called madukani.
I'm making a syllabub.
I wanted a bit of booze in here.
I've put loads in.
Probably too much!
Going for strong flavours today,
just because the dark chocolate
is so strong.
Orange will be the main thing.
Oh, he looks good. That's going
to go in for 20 minutes.
My pastry's definitely looked
better. They won't see it.
It'll be drenched in chocolate.
I'm just going to start building
the layers for the opera cake.
This is a layer
of coffee buttercream.
There'll be three layers of sponge,
four layers of ganache,
two layers of raspberry buttercream.
It's like precision work.
Yes!
I'm making my dessert
directly into it.
I just think if it works,
it's more impressive.
If it works.
I think they look good.
That's lush.
I'm pleased with that.
I just need to get on with
the decoration of that ball.
Just going to get my chocolate
sphere out the freezer.
Bakers, you have half an hour left!
Sorry.
This is as nerve-racking
as giving birth!
Oh no, it's cracked!
There. Everywhere.
God, this is so, so delicate.
Just really hard to open.
It's good, yeah.
Phew! It's not cracked.
Ah! Yes! Amazing!
OK...
I'm just going to punch
some little peepholes.
Oh, it's cracked!
Come on, please!
That's one.
Oh, this is going to be a disaster,
I can feel it.
It's going, it's going!
It's going!
Oh, no!
It's just cracked.
Ah, you're joking?! Yeah.
It's died, it's died. Too hot?
Once it starts going underneath,
it just goes. Nothing you can do?
No, not really. It's all right,
I'll put it on. It might taste nice.
Don't worry. No, I'm fine.
You've got to laugh about these
things, haven't you?
And cry a little bit.
I'm all right. I'm fine.
Oh, no!
Take your time. I've got
to make my chocolate sauce.
Ah! Tell me what to do
with the chocolate sauce.
Ah! You got it?
"Place cream into a heavy bottom
pan."
Jon, thank you.
Don't even say thanks,
you haven't got time.
Angry.
Uh-oh. That looks good.
It needs a bit of trimming.
Like some sort of Russian hat.
Jon's, I don't know what it tastes
like, but his looks amazing.
So, um, yeah...
Unless you've got a chocolate
sphere that I can put on my cake,
I'm not sure I can give
my attention.
Uh-oh, see? This is what happened.
OK... Can you fix that?
I will try if I can.
This looks like it's very precarious
so I'll leave. Good luck.
You know what?
We're going to go with a dome.
That was close.
OK.
See what we can salvage.
It's just melting as we're watching.
It's carnage.
Panic, panic, panic.
You call it. One minute.
Give them one minute.
Bakers, you have one minute left.
Come on!
You know what?
Where is that shimmer spray?
Oh, no! My nozzle's clogged.
It's going to be
a very yellow peach.
I'm just adding
a splash of gold leaf.
Argh, don't break now,
don't break now!
Bakers, time is up.
Oh, what a shocker!
Please place your Showstoppers
at the end of your benches.
That looks great.
Babe!
Don't worry.
Did it melt away?
Disaster. Ohhh!
It's judgment time for
the Showstopping melting
chocolate ball desserts.
Jon, please bring up
your Showstopper.
Oh, yes.
Come on, people,
give it up for the tutu.
APPLAUSE
The attention to detail,
I'm in first position, as well.
I think the dome is spectacular.
The shine you've got on it,
the tempering of the chocolate,
the colour works, as well.
I think the design at the bottom
scares the living daylights
out of me.
LAUGHTER
It's a thing of beauty.
No, it is not.
Can we get your hot sauce, please?
Here it goes.
Wow.
Wow.
I think we need to get in there.
Clear and distinct layers.
Beautiful texture, too.
It's really rich.
It's delicious.
I think you've done a great job
cos the flavour combinations
really work,
the raspberry and the chocolate
together with the opera cake.
Thank you, Jon.
And extra points for the outfit.
Cheers.
Do you understand the word sphere?
What happened was, it had shattered
into so many pieces so I had
to do a bit of a jigsaw
to try and have something.
Nice reveal.
These are all my favourite flavours.
Pistachio, passion fruit.
It's very thick,
the walls of that tart. Too thick.
It's quite sickly.
There's too much pistachio,
which dries everything out.
It's very difficult
to eat, if I'm honest. Right, OK.
We only wanted one, you've
done two, and it's very elegant.
It's very Rahul.
Thank you. It's beautiful.
Remind me what's in the sauce?
Oh, it's coffee creme anglaise.
So you first put it on the top
and then it's slowly going to
melt the rest.
I hope.
I'm so sorry.
Probably needed more sauce.
It's quite strong, isn't it?
You should have, like,
seven-layer opera cake.
Oh, beautiful. Yeah. Wow.
Look at that. Very neat.
I love that flavour.
Come on, Paul.
It's fantastic flavour.
The coffee chocolate that you put on
the top works so well with
the opera cake and the
creme au beurre as well
with the coffee in it, it's silky
smooth, it's delicious.
You did a great job there, Rahul.
Thank you. Again.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
You don't have to go backwards.
I'll do three steps
and then I'll turn around.
You can turn around. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you.
No excuses - it melted.
It looks like it was too thin.
Particularly white chocolate,
it has to be quite robust.
OK.
It's like a creature.
Elegant it's not.
But it is lovely, robust,
family flavours.
Blood orange is just so great.
And the texture of it is beautiful.
The outside is a bit of a mess.
Yeah. I'll take that.
I think I might be going home.
Let's not think about it now.
No, but it's OK. I'm OK.
It's not finished.
It was supposed to look
like a peach.
It looks like a planet.
It's a planet, then.
Planet Dan.
Go, Dan.
Nothing for it now. Come on.
Come on.
I'm out of sauce.
It's going, it's going. Oh.
It's going to go in... Oh! Bravo.
Let's take a big scoop.
Oh, it is layered, I see.
Very good.
It's absolutely delicious.
The tang from the fresh peach
married up with the sweetness
of the mousse is very, very good.
And the caramel works
well with it, as well.
Planet Delicious. Yeah.
Thank you very much.
Very neat and pretty
and I love the piping.
It's a beautiful thing. I think
what you've done is lovely.
Oh, God, this is not good.
Voila!
Look at that.
That looks amazing.
The collar is so lovely and thin
and the flavour's lovely.
You've got this smooth white
chocolate that sits in the mousse,
and the kick from the raspberries,
it is stunning to eat.
I mean, really delicate,
sophisticated.
I think that's a triumph.
Yeah.
Well done. Thank you. Thank you.
Well, I think it's wonderful.
Thank you very much.
I think the design is very good.
I think it's highly effective.
Come on, baby.
What's going to happen now is...
There we go.
Very good.
Let's have a look inside here.
We've got chocolate brownie,
mascarpone cream with raspberry
liqueur and raspberry syllabub.
It's absolutely delicious.
I wouldn't say it's elegant.
I think it's hugely decadent.
I do like the flavours.
Just a shame you've missed
some of the key ones for me.
I'm not getting too much
of the raspberry liqueur.
It could have been a bit stronger.
Well, never mind.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
The whole universe concept
you've got here,
I think it's fantastic.
You've got a lovely shine, as well.
I think it's wonderful.
This is the moment, Kim-Joy.
Come on now.
She talks to it, as well.
There we go.
Oh, look at that.
Oh, the umbrella inside.
Those turtles are just perfect.
I think it looks amazing.
What's the flavour inside these?
Orange and orange liqueur.
That is very delicious.
And what's lovely is you thought
about how the sauce was going
to blend with the chocolate,
which goes with the choux as well
and the whole thing works together.
You've got the slight alcoholic kick
at the back of it, as well,
and I think the design is flawless.
Thank you so much.
I think you've done a great job.
Well done, Kim-Joy.
Well done, Kim-Joy.
Ah, thank you. Well done.
The comments are, like, the
best comments I've ever received.
I think Prue and Paul
are sold on today's turtles.
It's rich, isn't it?
It was a good one, and had I had
a good day yesterday,
I would have been confident.
I feel OK now, but now isn't
when we're sitting on those stools
and waiting, and I would
be absolutely crushed.
Over the two days,
I think I'm at the bottom
but I'm quite of the opinion
sometimes it's better to expect
the worst
because then if it happens,
you're not as surprised and then if
it doesn't happen, winner, you know.
NOEL: Prue and Paul must now decide
who will be our fourth Star Baker,
and who will be leaving
the competition.
I have to tell you,
I never want to eat chocolate again.
LAUGHTER
Paul's fine, aren't you?
Well, I don't know. I think today,
with the weather, was a bit tricky.
But what happened was, when they
were pouring the hot sauce on,
I think it worked,
especially Kim-Joy's.
Kim-Joy, I think, saved herself.
She needed to.
Dan and Jon have got to be
hovering up there.
I mean, the outside didn't look
great for Dan.
But the interior was delicious
with those peaches. I know.
Dan's had a good week.
I've got to say, Rahul as well.
Yeah, again.
Rahul's there again.
The truth is it's Dan,
Rahul and Jon.
And I want Jon to win
on costume alone.
The person who went into the
Showstopper with tears
and tension was Karen.
She did a very good Showstopper.
But, frankly, I don't think
she's necessarily saved herself.
Briony's looked the saddest.
Basically, what she spent three
hours doing was making a tart.
But we have to say,
this week is very unusual.
Terry is not here.
If Terry were here... He might have
been the one to go home.
..he might've been the one
to go home.
Obviously Prue and I need to discuss
this a little further.
Do you know what's the best thing
about all of this?
Noel and I have got no decision
to make whatsoever.
We'll just go and play Frisbee,
right? Shall we? Yeah.
My hand's getting clammy. I'm sorry.
Don't worry. Go for it.
Well done, bakers. Another lovely
week with you in the tent.
Now, I get the joy of announcing
who is the Star Baker,
and if I tell you that this week's
Star Baker
did a peach of a Showstopper,
I don't think you'll be surprised
to learn that the Star Baker is...
Well done!
..Dan.
Well done!
Planet Delicious.
Ah, that means I've got
the horrible job
of sending someone home.
The person who's going home
this week is...
..nobody.
Ah!
You...
RELIEVED LAUGHTER
Oh, man!
The judges felt it wouldn't be fair
to send someone home
with Terry not being here, so...
But the downside to that
means that next week,
there is a strong possibility
that two people might be going home.
OK. Thank you.
And, on that note... It feels
weird sending no-one home
so I'm gonna go.
See you later, guys.
Bye, Noel. Take care.
It's been great, yeah.
Such a big fan. Loving your work!
Bye, Noel. See you, mate. Take care.
Thank you!
I'll be better, I promise. OK.
Oh, that's so good, isn't it?
Do you know what the great thing
about Bake Off is?
It's that at the end of each show,
you get a clean slate.
We're freed from the gallows.
Oh, my God!
I'm so pleased I'm not going home.
My family, they will be giddier
than I am.
They're so excited, my two girls.
The dog's not too keen.
Mate, you must have been close. Eh?
It must have been close.
If I was, all right, but well done.
You have to win it next week.
Debbie will be really happy
I'm through to another week.
A lot more stress
in the house again.
But, yeah, I know
she'll be really pleased.
ON PHONE: Hello, Daddy.
Hello, Constance. How are you?
Good.
Hey, guess what?
I was Star Baker.
Because I made a cake.
Yeah, very good and very tasty.
Oh, I love you too!
Next time...
Come on, come on, come on, come on.
..a Bake Off first with Spice Week.
It smells really good.
The remaining eight bakers
start gingerly...
You always feel better after
a bit of ginger.
..go east for the Technical...
It's a guessing game.
What the hell are they?
..and hang their gravity-defying
Showstoppers...
Oh, God, I'm shaking.
..as at least one baker... Jesus.
..will leave the tent.
Ha! Uh-oh...
Unbelievable!
Subtitles by Red Bee Media
the cross. ..the bakers were
overstretched... Ooh!
..with bread.
Paul's prowling around like a bear.
Whilst Dan came close again...
It's perfect.
..it was Rahul... Oh, look at that.
You're a little genius.
..who was crowned Star Baker
for the second time.
I'm going to kill him.
But for Antony, it was toast...
Not your best, Antony.
It's not my best.
..as he became the third baker
to say goodbye.
Come on, ladies. Come on.
Come on, let's bring it in.
SANDI: Now... Chop, chop.
..the bakers take on
a trio of desserts...
Going to put some cherries on top.
..with a Signature
that's all about the swirl...
Roll, baby, roll.
No! It's cracking.
Ah-ha-ha!
..tackle a '70s classic Technical...
Oh, what a mess.
It's not looking good.
..and attempt a mesmerising,
melting chocolate masterpiece...
This is as nerve-racking
as giving birth.
..that's never before been
witnessed on Bake Off.
Ah, yes! Amazing.
Oh, no, it's cracked.
You've got to laugh about
these things, haven't you, eh?
And cry a little bit.
I'm all right. I'm fine.
Noel, what are you doing?
It's Dessert Week.
I've made a custard pie. Are you
kidding me? Do you remember
last year
when Paul accidentally got
a custard pie in the face?
We cannot risk having that
happen again. It was a disaster.
Give me that. I'm going to throw
it... Sandi. Noel. Oh!
Welcome to Dessert Week.
What should we do? Run!
I've definitely been looking forward
to this week,
but that's probably my... signing
my death warrant right there.
I think I've just about managed
to scrape through
every single week,
so let's go for nailing
a good Signature today.
So far, I haven't had a big
baking disaster... so, hopefully,
it's going to continue?
Week four. It's getting
quite into the competition now.
Dan's looking strong.
Rahul definitely.
He just seems to be, like,
a conjuring magician, or something.
It's a mixture of everything,
really. Scary. Exciting. Nervous.
But, in the morning, what better
way to start than a glass of milk?
So, I just literally drink
a glass of milk in the morning.
Hello, bakers.
Welcome back to the tent.
Now, as you all know, unfortunately
Terry is not with us today
because he is poorly but with the
agreement of absolutely everybody,
he is going to be allowed
to come back next week.
Right, on with the challenge.
Today the judges would love you
to make a meringue roulade.
Now, your roulade
needs to be family sized.
It must be made from
melt-in-the-mouth meringue.
The choice of filling,
entirely up to you,
but the filling must be
enclosed in the roulade,
which - when cut - must demonstrate
a perfect swirl.
You have one hour and 45 minutes.
On your marks. Get set. Bake!
It's too quiet.
It's making my nerves go weird.
Everyone's separating eggs.
It's the most bit that you need to
concentrate on.
I've managed to get
the egg whites in the bowl
without getting any egg yolk in.
That was the first hurdle passed.
Oh, yeah, I messed it up. Oh.
This is annoying.
What we're looking for
in a great roulade -
crack through the exterior,
soft on the inside,
and beautiful spiral
into the middle.
One of the things the bakers
really need to think about
is the balance of flavours.
You need a bit of acidity,
either a curd, or nice sharp fruits,
because meringue is pure sugar.
But the beauty of this challenge
is there's nowhere to hide.
Make a mistake and it shows up.
And there's four whites in there.
Meringue's the most important thing.
Just got to get that in the oven
as quickly as possible.
You want just a nice, stiff,
glossy meringue.
Like, no undissolved sugar in it.
I think it's hot enough now. Hello.
Hello. Hello, Manon.
So, how are you making
your meringue?
I heat the sugar in the oven.
Basically, just dissolves
much quicker in the egg whites.
With everything I'm doing,
I'm hopefully guaranteeing
a good meringue.
Manon's relying on her heated sugar
to perfect a meringue that
will wrap a mascarpone cream
with kirsch-soaked dark cherries
and amarene cherries.
Amarene, this is like,
Italian, sweet,
almondy cherries and it's
a flavour from my childhood.
Do you want to smell?
NOEL: Thought that was an urn.
Fantastic. They smell like
almond kernels, don't they?
And you've done this before?
Uh, never made
a meringue roulade before.
So...
Slowly. Slowly.
You don't want to dump it all in.
You don't want the egg whites
to lose their air.
My husband's favourite dessert
was treacle tart.
Basically, it's the filling that
you would have in a treacle tart,
but in a roulade.
In addition, Briony will add a layer
of chopped fresh and dried pears
and wrap it all up
in a pecan meringue.
How many pears you going
to be using?
Um, three.
OK. You carry on.
Love pears. I love pears.
They're underrated. Yeah.
Absolutely.
Who's their press officer?
They're getting nothing.
Yeah, that's the meringue
nearly done.
I'm just making sure
that it holds its own shape.
That, um, if I wanted to risk it
over the top of my head,
it wouldn't fall out off the bowl.
Yeah, that's fine.
Yeah, we're OK.
So, I think it's there.
Meringues are like clouds,
aren't they?
They make you think of dreams.
So we're doing like
a dream-themed one of, like,
moons and star biscuits on top.
Kim-Joy's bedtime roulade
will be filled with whipped cream,
fresh raspberries
and a passion fruit curd.
Love that you always have a theme.
What do you dream about?
Last night, I dreamt I woke up
at 11:00 and I missed...
I had a dream that I was with Sandi,
where she was playing a bull
and I had like a serviette
and we were doing bullfighting.
I'm just spreading my meringue.
I prefer the sheet
to using the tins.
I find it's a more rustic
edge to it.
Use the word rustic,
you can get away with anything.
Jon's exotic roulade will be filled
with passion fruit curd
and white chocolate cream
and topped with a decoration
that requires scientific precision.
Need some mango spheres on the top.
What do you mean mango spheres?
Mango spheres,
spherification of mango juice.
It's like an egg yolk. You burst 'em
and then the sauce
comes out of them.
Cute little extra to put
on the top of your roulade.
Good luck, then, Jon.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Some meringue. I think it's good.
When baking a roulade,
there's no room for error.
So that's going in the oven.
Just a minute too long,
the meringue will be too dry
and it'll crack when it's rolled.
I'm baking it
for 160 for 30 minutes.
Under baked and it'll be too soft
and the whole roulade will collapse.
I am slightly going to under bake
it, only because I have
past experiences of meringues
breaking open.
I want it to be slightly rollable.
I hope. I wish. I don't know.
Oh.
Right, next step,
next step, next step.
Making a roulade
now gets even harder.
I'm just doing so many things
at the same time.
I feel a little bit running around.
The bakers need to use every minute
their meringue is in the oven...
I've actually just poured in way
too much booze into that. Whoops.
..to perfect
their all-important fillings.
Did you learn knife skills?
No, I just literally watch
and learn from TV. Oh!
Or like YouTube and things
like that. Life hacks.
The texture of the filling
is critical
Passion fruit curd.
Just waiting for it to thicken
a little bit more.
Too thick, it will be impossible
to roll the meringue
and create the perfect swirl.
This is the treacle tart filling.
It's just dried breadcrumbs
in golden syrup.
Too runny... Oops!
..the filling will spill out,
resulting in a soggy roulade.
You don't want liquid because then
it just like... meh! It's not nice.
And they need to get the balance
of flavours just right.
Meringue is, like, really sweet.
It's all sugar.
And I think you need
something sharp.
I spent quite a lot of time
in the Florida Keys
and started thinking about
the flavours that I've enjoyed.
Mainly cocktails, if I'm
being completely honest with you.
Dan's fruity roulade will be
filled with a coconut cream,
topped with fresh mango,
strawberries and lime curd.
The lime is really
the star of this one.
I think I've got the balance of the
sweetness and the sharpness right.
Let's all cross our fingers.
Dan's not the only baker
to be studying the cocktail menu.
My roulade today is inspired by
the years that I lived in Liverpool.
Had a lot of good times
with my friends going out.
So I'm doing a pina colada.
That classic Liverpool cocktail.
Paul actually bought me
a pina colada the other day.
True story.
Ruby's girls' night out roulade will
have a boozy coconut cream filling,
layered with roasted pineapple,
all rolled up in a coconut meringue.
I'm making a pina colada
on the side, as well.
Can you make four?
Three for Prue and one for me.
All right, thank you.
Thank you very much.
I was introduced to rhubarb
when I first came here.
I hated it because
it's just so sharp.
But then I had rhubarb and custard.
So this is like one of
the first British flavours
that I've grown into liking.
Last week's Star Baker will roll
a classic rich cream custard
and rhubarb compote in a flaked
almond decorated meringue.
Did you not win Star Baker
twice in a row?
Oh, my God.
Do you have to say that?
I think you can get three in a row.
I'm not thinking that, you know.
If you get three in a row,
I'm going to get on your shoulders
and you carry me around the tent,
yeah?
Well, that's definitely not going
to happen after you said that.
When you get a box of chocolates
at Christmas and the family...
Coffee creams and hazelnut pralines
always go first in our house.
So I've tried to base
the flavours on that, really.
Karen's festive roulade will be
flavoured with a hazelnut praline,
coffee caramel,
and a rich, creamy whisky filling.
This is a very thick custard.
If it's sloppy, it'll just
ooze out. That's fine.
Curd's done.
It's just going to go
in the fridge.
Bakers, you are halfway through
your Signature Challenge.
You have 52 and a half minutes left.
That's oddly specific.
I'm looking for a crispy coating
with a nice creamy centre.
He's rising.
He's rising!
Two or three minutes till
the meringue comes out the oven.
I think I'm taking it out now.
Coming out in four minutes.
I just hope it's not going to
crack too much.
I'm going to go for two minutes more
and then he's coming out.
OK.
Are we ready?
The whole tray's coming out.
I can't get that out.
Pretty good.
Quite pleased with it.
Definitely a meringue.
Look how lovely that looks.
What can I say? It's called talent.
There's a few holes, and that,
but it's a roulade.
It'll roll up.
We're going to let this bad boy
cool a little bit.
How are you? I'm all right.
But no Star Baker yet?
Yeah, all right, don't rub it in.
But you must be...
Oh, no. So close.
I'm... Yeah, well, I'm not getting
excited about it any more.
Yeah, I know. That little guy.
I know.
He stands before you
and a Star Baker.
But I think when people think
of who's doing well,
they think of you... Do they?
And they think of me.
Right!
Bakers, you have...
..half an hour left.
Half an hour.
I'm just going to spread my custard.
Just got to be careful.
I don't want to overload it.
Just leaving a gap at the top cos
it, inevitably, like, squidges out.
I like to use a lot of cream.
I want them to taste rhubarb.
Not too thick, though.
I want each bite to have
some kirsch and some amarene.
Just got to do the dreaded roll.
Ah, that's the moment, isn't it?
Where it suddenly might go...
That's the big... Ugh! Yeah, urgh.
Urgh.
You want a nice, tight swirl.
Just like a little cut here,
just to get things rolling.
I use the technique called hope.
Right, let's go for it.
This is the crucial moment
to get it right.
It's so delicate.
Oh, my God, it's so important.
It's just not good.
I hope that's tight enough.
Roll, baby, roll.
It's cracking.
OK.
Boom.
Ooh. Nice little roll.
Come on, you little beaut.
And breathe.
Oh.
No.
It cracked.
Stop moving.
Bakers, you have ten minutes.
Just ten minutes.
Got a bit of leakage at the side
but neaten it up a little bit
with some nice pretty piping.
I'm terrible at piping.
Just cover up... Yes. ..the crack.
OK. Cool.
We're going to put
some cherries on top.
This is total improvisation.
I just need to decorate it.
Ah, really shaky.
Finally, baking at my level.
It's the rhubarb compote.
Why are you down here?
It's easier.
I've found that my whole life.
It's the runniest toffee sauce.
A few more for good luck.
Don't take this the wrong way...
Oh, for God's sake.
I saw a caterpillar in the zoo,
an exotic one.
OK.
Looked a bit like that.
Think it was poisonous.
Good luck. Thanks.
These are my mango spheres.
Calcium lactate and sodium alginate.
And, when they go in, they react
and they basically make, like,
a jelly sweet.
It's called reverse spherification.
Try saying that
when you've had a few.
One minute left.
60 seconds.
Uh-oh. Are you all right, Rahul?
I'm going to be terribly
running out of time.
You're shaking.
If you're going to do tacky,
go all in.
A bit of gold leaf.
I mean, that's my motto,
too much is almost enough.
I'll just go and quickly stick
my white chocolate on.
Have you still got stuff
in the fridge?
My hand is really shaking.
Voila. Quick.
Bakers, your time is up.
Thank you. That looks great.
Bakers, roll your roulades
to the end of your stations.
TIMER BEEPS
Oh, my, my thingy.
Sorry.
The bakers' roulades will now face
the judgment of Paul and Prue.
Hello, Ruby. Hello.
It's really cylindrical.
The shape of it's even
all the way down. Pray.
I'm praying!
You've sort of got a fold
rather than a swirl.
Perhaps it should be
just a bit tighter. OK.
It's beautiful and light.
The flavours are stunning.
It is a pina colada.
The coconut and the pineapple
is just there.
It's a fantastic roulade. Your
drink's good. Nice as well. Good.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
The theme is dreams,
but also passion.
So you go to sleep, wake up,
and passion follows?
LAUGHTER
Wow. I have to go now, um...
It's a real mixture of absolutely
exquisite piping
and then really
quite clumsy roulade.
It's very thick.
There is no spiral in there at all.
Yeah.
Flavours are lovely,
and I'm really impressed with
the passion fruit curd.
But I think the answer is
to have a thinner meringue...
Right. ..and a tighter swirl.
Looks very busy. It looks very neat.
Can't wait to see
what the spiral's like.
It's broken up a lot.
That's a shame.
That's delicious.
I think your two types of cherries
are a really good idea
and you got a beautiful balance -
tastes lovely, my mouth's
still watering. Ah, thank you.
It looks absolutely lovely.
Nice and even all the way down.
The kisses look amazing.
Thank you.
What you've got is a massive
meringue with a little fold.
There is no spiral there.
Meringue's quite chewy.
You haven't baked it long enough.
It needed a little bit longer.
However, your interior is delicious.
Smooth,
sharpness coming from the rhubarb.
It tastes lovely. Thank you.
Thank you.
I think your roulade
looks pretty sad.
It's flat. Yeah.
Let's have a look at this, shall we?
The actual swirl is there
but the inside is so soft
that it's all collapsed.
Yeah.
I think your meringue's
slightly underdone. Mmm.
Your outside is the only
crispy bit in there.
Everything else in there
is soft and marshmallowy.
I love the decoration.
It's so delicate
and it does look as neat as a pin.
You do have a spiral!
You have a really good one, too.
I think those flavours
are wonderful.
Really fresh, lots of different
fruit, the lime cuts right through
the sweetness of the meringue, and
you've got the balance perfectly.
Good.
Yes! Well, there you are.
The meringue is very, very good.
You need one hero and then
everything else works around it.
Lime's the one in that,
and I think it looks exquisite.
Well done, Dan. No way.
Thank you very much.
Well done! Thank you.
What you've got is cylindrical.
You've just lost that spiral.
OK, sure. Maybe less meringue. OK.
What's all that?
That's the golden syrup.
There's a little bit of seepage.
Mmm. Certainly tastes like
treacle tart.
You do get the pear.
It sits on your tongue
and then just melts away.
You've ticked every box
on your flavours,
but the meringue's slightly too
thick and you've lost the spiral.
It looks great.
I like the egg yolks on the top.
There is a bit of a spiral
going on there.
I'm longing to see
how the spherification works.
Wow. Perfect.
It's a nice little touch, that.
I think it's delicious.
The passion fruit, you've really got
that flavour coming through
and it's about the sharpness,
it's about celebrating the fruit,
you know.
Wow.
Thank you so much. Cheers.
Cheers, Manon.
I couldn't believe it - a handshake!
And I was so, so pleased cos that is
one of my most favourite desserts.
Couldn't really have gone
much better.
I'm kinda nailing the Signatures
right now.
Uh, not very happy.
I just need to take it on the chin
and move on.
Probably five minutes more
in the oven. Ohh.
Still bottom of the class.
I need to do OK
in this Technical Challenge.
If I perform like that again, then,
as my dad would say, it's curtains.
Dessert Week isn't going to get
any easier.
All right, bakers,
time for your Technical Challenge,
which today has been set for you
by Prue, and it is a '70s classic.
Are they making Starsky and Hutch?
No, no, they're still baking. Oh.
But normally this would come in
packet form, so Prue, any top tips?
Follow the recipe
really, really carefully.
Yeah, so that's helpful, right?
Off you two go.
OK, Prue would love you to make
that retro classic, the blancmange.
Oh, my God.
A raspberry blancmange,
and must have a wobble.
And if that isn't enough
to contend with,
it also needs to be served with 12
identical langues de chat biscuits.
You have two and a half hours.
On your marks. Get set. Bake.
I've not got the foggiest
about blancmange.
The bakers have
the same ingredients...
Jelly tins. ..and Prue's pared-down
recipe for the blancmange...
It's that retro, I've forgotten
about it, you know?
..and langues de chat,
a light crunchy biscuit
often served with creamy desserts.
It's my era, this.
I mean, I was a child in the '70s.
Now, when I used to have this
at school,
I thought it was
absolutely disgusting.
Yes, it's blancmange, but it's not
blancmange out of a packet.
This is more like a panna cotta.
All the colour and the flavour
comes from fresh raspberry puree.
You are gonna love it.
I'll take a little scoop.
Whoa.
Mmm! That raspberry flavour
is just bang, it hits you.
It's lovely. That's nice.
They're using gelatine to set this
so they really are under pressure
because they've only got
two and a half hours and they need
at least two hours of freezing
first and then chilling.
Now, you're going for
langues de chat,
the typical butter biscuits
from France.
They'll be great with the blancmange
because the biscuits will
provide the crunch.
Crispy and buttery.
Very sweet.
That's a great biscuit.
What can go wrong with these?
They have to be quick in the oven.
They burn in a flash because they've
got a lot of sugar in them.
I think it's a great challenge. If
that's what it was like in school,
I would have had that every day.
Quite a lot going on in this recipe,
and it's not entirely clear.
Blitz the raspberries
to a fine puree.
Pass through a sieve into a bowl.
Nice and smooth.
Getting all that flavour
out of the fruit. Oh, God.
Remember the bit at the bottom,
that's where you get a lot of
the puree.
I think I'll just leave this to drip
and move on to the next element.
Stir in the raspberry liqueur.
Ooh, she likes it boozy.
Then we've got to make a custard.
Simmer until the mixture thickens.
It should start thickening
any minute now.
It just has a moment when it's like,
"Yeah, I'm gonna thicken now."
I have to soak gelatine leaves.
We let them soak and it sort of
activates it. It's called blooming.
The gelatine is in there
so got high hopes of it setting.
Almond extract is next.
Stir in 300mls of the double cream.
Here goes the raspberry puree.
It's lovely. It's really bright.
Mmm, that smells so good.
Do you like blancmange?
I've never tried it.
The only thing I know about it,
Sandi,
is that it looks like a brain.
Oh, OK.
That's quite interesting.
This is all I've got, I'm afraid.
Is that the look you're going for?
A bit of cerebral cortex?
Then pour into the mould.
Easy as that.
The concern is,
how does it come out of the mould?
But I'll worry about that later.
Here we go. I'm scared.
Ah!
Right, I need to get this bad boy
in the freezer.
Where is my freezer?
Do your thing. One hour.
We've got to freeze the blancmange
for an hour
and then we've got to put it
in the fridge for another hour
before we turn it out.
Really cutting that fine for time.
Um... make the langues de chat.
I don't know what langues de chat
means. Manon.
Uh, it's a cat's tongue.
Do you know what a langues de chat
is? Yeah, it's a cat's tongue.
Is it really?
I've made langues de chat before.
I know what they're supposed to
look like. Tongues.
Why does everyone know
what these are?
It just says
make the langues de chat mixture.
No method.
Just a list of ingredients.
Icing sugar, plain flour, salt,
extract, egg whites. Boom.
Just got to pipe it and bake it now.
I'm quite happy with this batter.
It's what I remember the batter
looking like.
Don't look at me, Rubes.
No cheating.
You're such a little tell-tale.
No-one likes that.
Pipe 12 identical fingers.
I'm going five centimetres.
Ooh!
I just want them
to all be identical.
So does it say how long?
No. Just says bake.
All right, go.
Bake till Christmas? Bake till
tomorrow morning? Thanks, Prue.
I think they're probably
only gonna need a few minutes.
160. I'll give about ten minutes.
Haven't got a clue.
Oh, that's the cat's tongue.
Yeah, that's the cat's tongue.
That's all you eat in France,
isn't it? Cat's tongues and coffee.
Yeah.
So the next step,
melt the white chocolate.
Add enough green cocoa butter to
colour it mint green. Mmm.
Do you like the colour? No.
I don't think food should be
that colour. It shouldn't, really.
Bakers, you are halfway through
your Technical Challenge.
It's an important moment.
It's really hard to tell
how the blancmange is looking.
The bakers need to choose
the perfect moment
to move the blancmange from the
freezer to the fridge.
If they leave it too long
in the freezer,
then the binding agents in
the gelatine won't set properly.
I think gelatine doesn't respond
very well to being frozen, actually.
It tends to go sloppy.
My blancmange is still in the
freezer because I don't think
it's that set, and I'm just worried
that when I'm gonna turn it over,
it's gonna...
So I want it to be frozen.
So we're nearly there.
Just getting the biscuits
out of the oven.
They're huge.
Yep. That's about right.
Some of them are a bit pale but
they're gonna be decorated as well.
Hide a multitude of sins.
So what do the instructions say
again?
Dip the cooled langues de chat
into the chocolate lengthways
on the diagonal. It's not very
diagonal. It's more curved.
That's lengthways on
the diagonal, innit? Innit?!
That's not right.
It's like a banana.
Drizzle the white chocolate
in lines,
midways, from side to side,
across the langoustines de chat.
I think maybe it's all right.
How much time gone?
Bakers!
15 minutes till blancmange time.
Ah!
I'm gonna take the thing out now.
Seems all right.
Seems how I want it to be.
Remove the mould from the fridge and
dip it into a bowl of hot water.
Got some water, warm, there
for a quick slip and slide out.
Three, two, one...
Ah!
Ah! I don't really know how long.
Well, it's obviously softening
around the edges.
I'm so scared to turn it out.
I really don't want to be
the first one to do it.
This is awful to watch.
Yes!
This is stressful, isn't it?
It's coming.
OK, I'm going at three, two, one.
All right, is this gonna lift
or not?
Yikes.
Oh...
This isn't great.
It's out, but it's too soft.
Oh, no, he is melty as.
Come on, baby.
Aah!
OK, fridge.
Oh, what a mess.
Briony's got hers out fine.
Karen's not got hers out fine.
Bakers, you have five minutes left.
It's not looking good.
It's not gonna be good, this.
OK. Let's try to make this pretty.
Oh, God. It's just trying to escape
off the plate.
This is so rubbish.
Where did you slide down from?!
Looks like a blancmange.
Oh, well.
Bakers, that is it.
Your time is up.
Ohhh. Dear, dear, dear.
Please bring your blancmange
and your biscuits
and place them behind your photos
on the table.
Paul and Prue are expecting
a raspberry blancmange
full of flavour,
with a perfect wobble, as well as
12 langues de chat biscuits.
But they don't know whose is whose.
Shall we start with that one?
Bit of a wobble.
The definition has been lost
a little bit on this. Yeah.
But the colour's good.
Great consistency.
That blancmange is good.
Very good biscuit.
Not quite langues de chat shape,
should be a little bit thinner.
We've lost a lot of colour
on this one. And definition.
I think it could have been
a bit better set.
The biscuits...
They look as if they could have
spent a little longer in the oven.
In the oven.
They could have spent
a little longer in the oven. Mmm.
The colour of this
is really nice, actually.
Nice wobble.
Delicious. Delicious.
The tartness that comes from
the raspberry.
Onto the biscuits.
Bit under-baked. actually.
This has lost a bit of height
and a bit of colour.
It's not quite set, is it?
Lovely and crisp.
Moving onto this, um, pool.
But that's soup.
It's not set. Not set.
What a pity. Great flavour, though.
Biscuits are very good.
This one's actually got
a decent colour.
Just lost a bit of definition there.
Lovely.
Biscuits look pretty good as well.
That is a beautiful biscuit
from a baking point of view.
Moving on, let's have a quick look
inside, cos the colour's not bad.
It's a nice blancmange, that.
These biscuits do look good.
Beautifully piped.
They're great biscuits.
OK, last one.
Nice wobble on this one.
The colour is great. Very nice.
Beautiful blancmange.
It's sharp. It's smooth.
Biscuits are very skinny...
..but very good.
Very nice.
Paul and Prue must now decide whose
blancmange and biscuits are best.
In eighth place is...
this one. Manon, it's not set.
Right, in seventh place,
we have this one.
That's me. You didn't get the
raspberries through well enough
and the langues de chat
are undercooked.
Kim-Joy is in sixth,
Briony's in fifth
and Rahul is in fourth.
In third place, Jon.
The flavour
was absolutely delicious.
Spoilt by rather uneven
cat's tongues.
In second place is this one.
Pretty good.
You had a nice tartness,
and the biscuits were nice too.
Thank you.
Which means this one in number one.
Dan, it really was
the most delicious thing.
Well done.
Welcome to the club. Shut up!
It was one of my goals
to get first in Technical.
Couldn't really have gone
any better, could it?
Never making a blancmange again.
Puddle.
I'm really disappointed
with the result.
Do you want me to elaborate?
Not a great day. Plan for tonight?
Go and have a few glasses of wine,
early night... on it tomorrow.
I feel like the competition's
getting tougher.
A big part of me
just has this sense I'm going home.
There's just one challenge left
in Dessert Week.
Good luck, everybody.
Good luck!
One more chance to be crowned
Star Baker,
and to avoid
leaving the competition.
What's so interesting is
that the sort of top four,
which is, sort of,
Rahul, Ruby, Jon and Dan...
Dan the Man.
..those four have been really good,
and the other four
have all been in trouble.
Briony possibly. Yes, for sure.
Manon is down there as well.
Something very depressing
about Manon's blancmange.
I know. Could have done well.
All Kim-Joy's flavours
are very subtle.
But neither Paul
nor I are very subtle.
We just like big wallops of flavour!
I would hesitate to comment.
Karen's in big trouble.
That roulade was not good.
I think, coming into the last
challenge, there's a lot of people
who've got to raise their game.
Hello, bakers! For your
Showstopper Challenge today,
the lovely Paul and Prue would love
you to make a spectacular,
mesmerising, melting
chocolate ball dessert.
Sounds like a magic trick.
Well, in a way it is!
So, the dessert of your choosing
must be concealed and encased
within a chocolate sphere,
which, when topped with a hot sauce
melts away to reveal
the dessert within.
It can be any dessert,
any chocolate, but the textures
and the flavours
must compliment each other.
You've got three hours.
On your marks... Get set... ..bake!
Pressure's on because it's such
a complicated dessert.
Not feeling too thrilled
about all of this.
I just need to do a lot to save
myself, and I'm just worried.
And it's really hot.
Again.
With chocolate.
Oh, my word.
I'm working really quick because
I want it in the fridge
as soon as possible.
Thank you very much.
What we're asking for
is the most delicious,
original dessert
inside a chocolate globe.
When you pour the sauce on top,
you want the chocolate to melt away
to show the perfect dessert
underneath.
There lies the problem.
If it's too thick, it's not going
to melt all the way through.
If it's too thin, the chances are
it'll crack and fall apart anyway.
We'll be judging their dessert, yes,
but it's got to blend well with
the chocolate and the sauce.
So you've got to think
on two levels.
One, the dessert's
got to be fantastic.
But also, you've got
to think of the flavours
when that chocolate and sauce is
added to it, that still has to work.
There's a few bakers in the tent
in a bit of trouble.
This could be their last bake
in The Great British Bake Off.
So, Briony, your chocolate ball
dessert. Yes.
So, I am doing
a white chocolate ball.
The dessert encased is going to be
an amaretto and blood orange
sticky toffee pudding tart.
Oh, that sounds heaven!
You've done treacle tart,
and now sticky toffee?
Yeah, they're
my husband's favourites!
And mine actually.
Yeah? Oh, good!
Briony's tart will be enclosed
inside an imposing
marbled white chocolate sphere,
which will be melted with a blood
orange sticky toffee sauce.
Your choice of white chocolate
as the dome,
is that the right choice?
Yeah, I think it works well
because the dark chocolate,
didn't compliment the flavours,
it just completely...
Dominated? Yeah.
OK, thank you very much.
It's a pleasure. Thank you.
Look forward to it. Thank you!
I know that Paul makes
a sticky toffee pudding tart,
so...
Briony's not the only baker
putting her trust in a hidden tart.
I am doing basically a golden egg
sitting in a bird's nest.
Inside you'll have
sweet shortcrust pastry base,
and then you'll have
a pistachio crumb,
a white chocolate coconut ganache,
and a tart passion fruit curd,
with a mango meringue on top.
Very sweet. So, quite a complicated
little tart in there. Yes.
To reveal her tropical tart,
Ruby will make a hot coconut
and white chocolate sauce.
I go out for dinner with
my girlfriends quite a lot.
this is something we'd
definitely order.
You've seen a surprise,
melting chocolate ball
when you go out for a meal
with the girls?
Yes. Yes. Have you?! Yeah.
They're in restaurants now, Paul!
Yeah, you spend too long
in drive-throughs.
You need to get
with the times a bit!
Rather than a tart...
It's really good to get that in,
actually.
..some bakers are banking
on a more layered approach.
I'm making a joconde.
This is a toasted hazelnut version
because it pairs quite well
with the peach.
Basically, it's a peach and
hazelnut layered mousse cake.
With alternating peach
mousse layers,
Dan's joconde will sit in a
peach-shaped dark chocolate sphere,
inspired by his daughter Constance's
favourite bedtime story.
Why peach? I was struggling
for inspiration,
and then I saw James and the
Giant Peach on the book shelf
and I was like, "I'll do a peach"!
That's basically the reason.
You have a little imp
that speaks to you? Yeah, yeah!
Have you made this before?
I have.
Has it worked? Yeah...
Your voice is getting higher, Dan.
"Yeah!" I don't know.
Don't know why I'm doing this,
but I've seen people do it.
The layered dessert that will be
hidden inside Jon's chocolate ball
is also inspired by his kids.
Making a version of an opera cake
by calling it a ballet cake.
My three daughters did ballet and
my two youngest still do ballet,
this is my Lucy and Hannah
ballet cake.
Ringed with white chocolate
ballerinas,
Jon's sphere will hide
an 11-layered ballet cake,
which he'll reveal with a
hot raspberry and kirsch syrup.
I love the look of that. Goth juice.
That's what I do for work, I deliver
blood. Oh, you do, don't you?
I suck it out of peoples' veins
and you deliver it.
I'm getting hungry. Is it lunch yet?
These pistachios will make my crumb.
Most of the bakers are making a
single dessert designed for sharing.
The problem with peach is,
either they're beautifully ripe,
or they're a bit bland.
But, with 20 individual
desserts to perfect...
And that will be their legs...
..Kim-Joy's boldly going
where no baker has gone before.
I am doing a galaxy themed
chocolate ball,
filled with choux turtles.
Turtles? Yes, turtles. Because?
Because why not?
No, that's exactly right. Why not?
Yes. It's space turtles.
Space turtles, yeah. Where do you
come up with this stuff?
I don't know!
Featuring chocolate orange
craquelin shells
and orange liqueur cream filling,
the turtles will sit inside
a dark chocolate galaxy
until they're revealed
with a salted caramel sauce.
The choux, the caramel, the
chocolate together should be
amazing. It's a great blend.
I really hope so. Plus, turtles in
space, what's not to love, right?
And with little cocktail
umbrellas as well.
Oh! Of course. Of course! Obviously!
Obviously. Silly me.
Thank you very much indeed, Kim-Joy.
Oh, she's mad.
Oh, joconde!
TIMER BLEEPS
Preparing a delicious dessert
is the least of the bakers' worries.
I'll give that another minute.
The judges have demanded
that each one is hidden inside
a highly decorative
chocolate sphere.
So, this is going to be like
the galaxy.
I've got a glove
for my cocoa butter.
I usually use it to dye my hair.
Just seeing if there's any
thin bits through the light.
If the walls of the sphere
are too thin...
You've got to try and give it
a fairly firm edge.
..it will crack and collapse.
Bit of back and forth. Oh!
Too thick, the chocolate won't melt,
and the theatrical reveal of
the dessert inside will be ruined.
Rather it be a bit too thick,
than too thin.
Then the next thing
on my list is to pray.
It's a challenge Ruby,
Manon and Briony
have made even harder
for themselves.
With a lower melting point, white
chocolate is less stable than dark.
I'm trying to work very quickly
because this was just
at the right temperature.
To produce a sphere
that doesn't collapse...
Here comes
the technical shaking part.
..they'll need thicker walls.
It's very graceful.
The technique is shake it out.
Oh, we have the same technique!
Yeah!
Manon's white chocolate ball
will hide a French entremet dessert
featuring layers
of white chocolate mousse,
raspberry curd, and a crunchy
dark chocolate praline base.
Oh, I'm really hot.
I put quite a lot inside.
Whilst most of the bakers
are using moulds...
Get off, get off. Come on!
..Rahul and Karen...
Chocolate festival.
..are gambling
on a less rigid approach.
Too many cigarettes
when I was a young lass.
My children's party days
are long since gone.
Karen's pinning
her future in the tent
on a balloon-moulded
dark chocolate sphere,
concealing a raspberry liqueur
chocolate brownie,
layered with mascarpone
and raspberry syllabub.
It's really important that
this works for me today
because I'm on the edge
of the rankings.
I mean, I know in life
it's only a chocolate ball,
but today's it's important.
Rahul's taking his
Showstopper so seriously,
he needs more than one balloon.
Well, this one, the practice
was different because
when I was making the balloons
this was not very successful,
the balloons keep popping on my
face. It's a very tricky process.
He'll use his spheres
to craft an ornate kalash,
a Hindu symbol of abundance, said
to contain the elixir of life,
or, in this case, a seven-layered
coffee and chocolate opera cake.
I'm five minutes behind
the schedule already, so...
I've got to tell the bakers the time
but I don't know where Noel's gone.
Um, I'll just get on with it.
Bakers! You are exactly halfway
through your Showstopper Challenge.
My peach mousse needs quite a while
to set. I've got to get a hustle on!
This is raspberry curd.
And then I'm going to make
my chocolate collar.
This is the topping for my dome.
It's a pair of ballet shoes.
This is basically some traditional
Indian pattern called madukani.
I'm making a syllabub.
I wanted a bit of booze in here.
I've put loads in.
Probably too much!
Going for strong flavours today,
just because the dark chocolate
is so strong.
Orange will be the main thing.
Oh, he looks good. That's going
to go in for 20 minutes.
My pastry's definitely looked
better. They won't see it.
It'll be drenched in chocolate.
I'm just going to start building
the layers for the opera cake.
This is a layer
of coffee buttercream.
There'll be three layers of sponge,
four layers of ganache,
two layers of raspberry buttercream.
It's like precision work.
Yes!
I'm making my dessert
directly into it.
I just think if it works,
it's more impressive.
If it works.
I think they look good.
That's lush.
I'm pleased with that.
I just need to get on with
the decoration of that ball.
Just going to get my chocolate
sphere out the freezer.
Bakers, you have half an hour left!
Sorry.
This is as nerve-racking
as giving birth!
Oh no, it's cracked!
There. Everywhere.
God, this is so, so delicate.
Just really hard to open.
It's good, yeah.
Phew! It's not cracked.
Ah! Yes! Amazing!
OK...
I'm just going to punch
some little peepholes.
Oh, it's cracked!
Come on, please!
That's one.
Oh, this is going to be a disaster,
I can feel it.
It's going, it's going!
It's going!
Oh, no!
It's just cracked.
Ah, you're joking?! Yeah.
It's died, it's died. Too hot?
Once it starts going underneath,
it just goes. Nothing you can do?
No, not really. It's all right,
I'll put it on. It might taste nice.
Don't worry. No, I'm fine.
You've got to laugh about these
things, haven't you?
And cry a little bit.
I'm all right. I'm fine.
Oh, no!
Take your time. I've got
to make my chocolate sauce.
Ah! Tell me what to do
with the chocolate sauce.
Ah! You got it?
"Place cream into a heavy bottom
pan."
Jon, thank you.
Don't even say thanks,
you haven't got time.
Angry.
Uh-oh. That looks good.
It needs a bit of trimming.
Like some sort of Russian hat.
Jon's, I don't know what it tastes
like, but his looks amazing.
So, um, yeah...
Unless you've got a chocolate
sphere that I can put on my cake,
I'm not sure I can give
my attention.
Uh-oh, see? This is what happened.
OK... Can you fix that?
I will try if I can.
This looks like it's very precarious
so I'll leave. Good luck.
You know what?
We're going to go with a dome.
That was close.
OK.
See what we can salvage.
It's just melting as we're watching.
It's carnage.
Panic, panic, panic.
You call it. One minute.
Give them one minute.
Bakers, you have one minute left.
Come on!
You know what?
Where is that shimmer spray?
Oh, no! My nozzle's clogged.
It's going to be
a very yellow peach.
I'm just adding
a splash of gold leaf.
Argh, don't break now,
don't break now!
Bakers, time is up.
Oh, what a shocker!
Please place your Showstoppers
at the end of your benches.
That looks great.
Babe!
Don't worry.
Did it melt away?
Disaster. Ohhh!
It's judgment time for
the Showstopping melting
chocolate ball desserts.
Jon, please bring up
your Showstopper.
Oh, yes.
Come on, people,
give it up for the tutu.
APPLAUSE
The attention to detail,
I'm in first position, as well.
I think the dome is spectacular.
The shine you've got on it,
the tempering of the chocolate,
the colour works, as well.
I think the design at the bottom
scares the living daylights
out of me.
LAUGHTER
It's a thing of beauty.
No, it is not.
Can we get your hot sauce, please?
Here it goes.
Wow.
Wow.
I think we need to get in there.
Clear and distinct layers.
Beautiful texture, too.
It's really rich.
It's delicious.
I think you've done a great job
cos the flavour combinations
really work,
the raspberry and the chocolate
together with the opera cake.
Thank you, Jon.
And extra points for the outfit.
Cheers.
Do you understand the word sphere?
What happened was, it had shattered
into so many pieces so I had
to do a bit of a jigsaw
to try and have something.
Nice reveal.
These are all my favourite flavours.
Pistachio, passion fruit.
It's very thick,
the walls of that tart. Too thick.
It's quite sickly.
There's too much pistachio,
which dries everything out.
It's very difficult
to eat, if I'm honest. Right, OK.
We only wanted one, you've
done two, and it's very elegant.
It's very Rahul.
Thank you. It's beautiful.
Remind me what's in the sauce?
Oh, it's coffee creme anglaise.
So you first put it on the top
and then it's slowly going to
melt the rest.
I hope.
I'm so sorry.
Probably needed more sauce.
It's quite strong, isn't it?
You should have, like,
seven-layer opera cake.
Oh, beautiful. Yeah. Wow.
Look at that. Very neat.
I love that flavour.
Come on, Paul.
It's fantastic flavour.
The coffee chocolate that you put on
the top works so well with
the opera cake and the
creme au beurre as well
with the coffee in it, it's silky
smooth, it's delicious.
You did a great job there, Rahul.
Thank you. Again.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
You don't have to go backwards.
I'll do three steps
and then I'll turn around.
You can turn around. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you.
No excuses - it melted.
It looks like it was too thin.
Particularly white chocolate,
it has to be quite robust.
OK.
It's like a creature.
Elegant it's not.
But it is lovely, robust,
family flavours.
Blood orange is just so great.
And the texture of it is beautiful.
The outside is a bit of a mess.
Yeah. I'll take that.
I think I might be going home.
Let's not think about it now.
No, but it's OK. I'm OK.
It's not finished.
It was supposed to look
like a peach.
It looks like a planet.
It's a planet, then.
Planet Dan.
Go, Dan.
Nothing for it now. Come on.
Come on.
I'm out of sauce.
It's going, it's going. Oh.
It's going to go in... Oh! Bravo.
Let's take a big scoop.
Oh, it is layered, I see.
Very good.
It's absolutely delicious.
The tang from the fresh peach
married up with the sweetness
of the mousse is very, very good.
And the caramel works
well with it, as well.
Planet Delicious. Yeah.
Thank you very much.
Very neat and pretty
and I love the piping.
It's a beautiful thing. I think
what you've done is lovely.
Oh, God, this is not good.
Voila!
Look at that.
That looks amazing.
The collar is so lovely and thin
and the flavour's lovely.
You've got this smooth white
chocolate that sits in the mousse,
and the kick from the raspberries,
it is stunning to eat.
I mean, really delicate,
sophisticated.
I think that's a triumph.
Yeah.
Well done. Thank you. Thank you.
Well, I think it's wonderful.
Thank you very much.
I think the design is very good.
I think it's highly effective.
Come on, baby.
What's going to happen now is...
There we go.
Very good.
Let's have a look inside here.
We've got chocolate brownie,
mascarpone cream with raspberry
liqueur and raspberry syllabub.
It's absolutely delicious.
I wouldn't say it's elegant.
I think it's hugely decadent.
I do like the flavours.
Just a shame you've missed
some of the key ones for me.
I'm not getting too much
of the raspberry liqueur.
It could have been a bit stronger.
Well, never mind.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
The whole universe concept
you've got here,
I think it's fantastic.
You've got a lovely shine, as well.
I think it's wonderful.
This is the moment, Kim-Joy.
Come on now.
She talks to it, as well.
There we go.
Oh, look at that.
Oh, the umbrella inside.
Those turtles are just perfect.
I think it looks amazing.
What's the flavour inside these?
Orange and orange liqueur.
That is very delicious.
And what's lovely is you thought
about how the sauce was going
to blend with the chocolate,
which goes with the choux as well
and the whole thing works together.
You've got the slight alcoholic kick
at the back of it, as well,
and I think the design is flawless.
Thank you so much.
I think you've done a great job.
Well done, Kim-Joy.
Well done, Kim-Joy.
Ah, thank you. Well done.
The comments are, like, the
best comments I've ever received.
I think Prue and Paul
are sold on today's turtles.
It's rich, isn't it?
It was a good one, and had I had
a good day yesterday,
I would have been confident.
I feel OK now, but now isn't
when we're sitting on those stools
and waiting, and I would
be absolutely crushed.
Over the two days,
I think I'm at the bottom
but I'm quite of the opinion
sometimes it's better to expect
the worst
because then if it happens,
you're not as surprised and then if
it doesn't happen, winner, you know.
NOEL: Prue and Paul must now decide
who will be our fourth Star Baker,
and who will be leaving
the competition.
I have to tell you,
I never want to eat chocolate again.
LAUGHTER
Paul's fine, aren't you?
Well, I don't know. I think today,
with the weather, was a bit tricky.
But what happened was, when they
were pouring the hot sauce on,
I think it worked,
especially Kim-Joy's.
Kim-Joy, I think, saved herself.
She needed to.
Dan and Jon have got to be
hovering up there.
I mean, the outside didn't look
great for Dan.
But the interior was delicious
with those peaches. I know.
Dan's had a good week.
I've got to say, Rahul as well.
Yeah, again.
Rahul's there again.
The truth is it's Dan,
Rahul and Jon.
And I want Jon to win
on costume alone.
The person who went into the
Showstopper with tears
and tension was Karen.
She did a very good Showstopper.
But, frankly, I don't think
she's necessarily saved herself.
Briony's looked the saddest.
Basically, what she spent three
hours doing was making a tart.
But we have to say,
this week is very unusual.
Terry is not here.
If Terry were here... He might have
been the one to go home.
..he might've been the one
to go home.
Obviously Prue and I need to discuss
this a little further.
Do you know what's the best thing
about all of this?
Noel and I have got no decision
to make whatsoever.
We'll just go and play Frisbee,
right? Shall we? Yeah.
My hand's getting clammy. I'm sorry.
Don't worry. Go for it.
Well done, bakers. Another lovely
week with you in the tent.
Now, I get the joy of announcing
who is the Star Baker,
and if I tell you that this week's
Star Baker
did a peach of a Showstopper,
I don't think you'll be surprised
to learn that the Star Baker is...
Well done!
..Dan.
Well done!
Planet Delicious.
Ah, that means I've got
the horrible job
of sending someone home.
The person who's going home
this week is...
..nobody.
Ah!
You...
RELIEVED LAUGHTER
Oh, man!
The judges felt it wouldn't be fair
to send someone home
with Terry not being here, so...
But the downside to that
means that next week,
there is a strong possibility
that two people might be going home.
OK. Thank you.
And, on that note... It feels
weird sending no-one home
so I'm gonna go.
See you later, guys.
Bye, Noel. Take care.
It's been great, yeah.
Such a big fan. Loving your work!
Bye, Noel. See you, mate. Take care.
Thank you!
I'll be better, I promise. OK.
Oh, that's so good, isn't it?
Do you know what the great thing
about Bake Off is?
It's that at the end of each show,
you get a clean slate.
We're freed from the gallows.
Oh, my God!
I'm so pleased I'm not going home.
My family, they will be giddier
than I am.
They're so excited, my two girls.
The dog's not too keen.
Mate, you must have been close. Eh?
It must have been close.
If I was, all right, but well done.
You have to win it next week.
Debbie will be really happy
I'm through to another week.
A lot more stress
in the house again.
But, yeah, I know
she'll be really pleased.
ON PHONE: Hello, Daddy.
Hello, Constance. How are you?
Good.
Hey, guess what?
I was Star Baker.
Because I made a cake.
Yeah, very good and very tasty.
Oh, I love you too!
Next time...
Come on, come on, come on, come on.
..a Bake Off first with Spice Week.
It smells really good.
The remaining eight bakers
start gingerly...
You always feel better after
a bit of ginger.
..go east for the Technical...
It's a guessing game.
What the hell are they?
..and hang their gravity-defying
Showstoppers...
Oh, God, I'm shaking.
..as at least one baker... Jesus.
..will leave the tent.
Ha! Uh-oh...
Unbelievable!
Subtitles by Red Bee Media